If you are any good at counting...

You may realize that there are five pairs of shoes in our header picture.

And if you are any good at guessing, you are absolutely right.

So, maybe we'll get a Max this time.  Or maybe it will be a Mabel.

My mom wants both.  But I have decided that if there are two, she will have to keep one.

You can count on baby three's arrival in early August.

There's a high of 70 today.

So we hopped a train to the Dallas Zoo, which I like more every time I go.  Happy New Year!

Ella wrote a song.

I have to say, Paul and I were shocked at how accurately she reproduced notes.  I think I'll save teaching her about the staff later.

'Tis the Season.

I shouldn't have been, but was, surprised, as I was going through the last couple of months of pictures, at how many pictures we have of Charlotte naked.  In my defense, this particular one was taken when it was still quite warm outside.  You know, in October.  

But, let's be real, she was also naked when Richard and Jess showed up for dinner tonight.  And I didn't bother getting her dressed until bedtime either.  We were doing a paint craft, and her outfit was too cute to ruin.

We have been crazy busy this last week, and I don't know that it will let up until after Christmas.  Paul had last week off of work, which was so fun.  And we made the most of our family time.  And even fit a little 'stay-cation' into the week.  We headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of days.  And then headed to my sister, Laurel's wedding.  The Lodge was very fun, and I think it will become a tradition.  And the wedding was lovely.  If I ever have to get married again (let's hope not), I'm going to elope, too.

I am the ward choir director, and music chair, so there are just a few last minute things to take care of for the Christmas program.  We had friends stay the night last night on their way to Amarillo.  And the night before we went Christmas Caroling with a big group from the ward.  Plus we're still recovering from the wedding.  It was a big weekend.  I don't think Ella's been asleep before 10pm in a week.  Tomorrow we have an evening rehearsal, Friday morning I have another rehearsal (different group), but the evening should calm down and Saturday will be nice and quiet.  Can't wait for Christmas.  It is such a wonderful season.

I read this amazing article about celebrating the material at Christmastime.  You can find it here.  It was beautifully written and thought provoking.

Hope your pre-Christmas week is going wonderfully!

Remember that day...

That we went out to a restaurant for dinner and they had computers on every table with computer games? 

You can also place your order and use them to pay. But that's obviously a secondary function. 

Play first, eat later.

Paul was home with the girls the other day for lunch and was busy in the kitchen, when he turned to find Ella spelling with her green beans. 

We think she's pretty cute.

Merry Christmas!

I've been doing a lot of soul searching on Christmas this year.  And last year actually.  And maybe the year before.  It all kind of blurs together.  It all began with a ward Christmas party where Santa made an appearance.  It was just after the Nativity performance, which was lovely, and left us feeling so peaceful and spiritual and wonderful.  Well, Santa came in, and the kids started going crazy.  And, there went the Spirit.

So, anyway, the girls (I think it was just Ella back then) were young enough that it didn't really matter if we talked about Santa or not.  So we just didn't.  This year I felt like I needed to decide one way or another if Santa was going to be part of our Christmas traditions.  And so we decided.

He's not.

Well, not really.  Obviously, they know who Santa is.  How can you not if you ever leave the house in December?  Or November.  Or October, incidentally. So I just recently informed Ella he was just a pretend part of Christmas.  Mostly just to clarify.  It didn't seem to really surprise her, probably because, all she knows about Santa consists in large dolls on display in stores.  And the Grinch book.  I really like that book.  We read it year round at our house.

On a related note, this year, while Paul was setting up the tree, she asked him, "Why are you taking our Christmas tree, why?"  Which is a direct quote from Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch.  We thought it was pretty funny.

Maybe I should have told her that some people pretend that Santa brings the presents.  Because the Grinch kind of gives the wrong idea on that vein. But I bet she'll figure it out eventually.

So, we just came home from this year's ward Christmas party, which had the same setup, and I have to say, they managed to keep the Santa line very calm.  So, I didn't feel like it was a huge detraction from the Nativity.  But I don't regret our decision.  Santa doesn't really add anything to Christmas for me.

The magic of Christmas is the birth of our Savior.  It just doesn't get more magical than that.  I don't need to make up stories for my kids to feel the awe-inspiring spirit surrounding Christmas.

In any case, I know all of you think that I am probably crazy.  But I'm sort of fine with that.  I also don't care if you do Santa at your house.  And you probably do.  We were the only family who left without seeing Santa tonight.  Which is also fine.  Santa is really fun.  And it's a fun tradition.  And I totally understand why you are doing Santa.  It took me at least two years to make this decision, remember?  So, no judging here.  I will also be sitting down with Ella next year and having a serious talk about not spilling the beans on Santa.  She's too little this year to be a risk, I think. :)

Anyhow, if you want to know the real reason I shared this new family tradition, it is in the hopes that it will eclipse the article I am about to post.  Which is about not buying gifts at Christmas.  I wouldn't usually post it on this blog, mostly because I have lots of strong opinions, and they don't need to be out in cyberspace offending people. But I want to keep track of the link, and this is the best place to do it.  So, if you want to know if I'm really crazy, just click here.  It is a link to a blog called ZenHabits.net.  It is titled The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents.  (All that information is for me in case the link ever goes bad.)

But, if you're wondering.  It's too late this year.  The gifts have been purchased.  Although, we really tried to simplify.  I guess Paul doesn't have his gift yet, but he will.  And I imagine he will get me something, too.  But the extended family is covered.  The girls are covered.  So, there is no need to feel sorry for us on Christmas morning this year. :)

Boring Stuff

We went to the Dallas Arboretum with friends the other day, and took quite a few pictures, many of which, over all, were better than this one.  But I just can't get over Charlotte's expression in this photo.  She is really a hoot.  With more personality than is really practical in that little body of hers.

We have always known that Ella was an easier child.  She is laid back and nearly always obedient.  But we didn't quite know how easy we had it until the last few months.  There have been multiple times when Paul and I have looked at each other in response to Charlotte and honestly not known what to do.  She is so young to be so very willful.  She outright refuses to eat unless it is on her terms.  (Whatever those terms are in the moment, this afternoon 'her terms' consisted of eating nuts right out of the bag, which there was no way I was going to let her do, and so she stayed hungry, I guess.  This morning 'her terms' consisted of massive amounts of sour cream on her eggs (breakfast burritoes).  We wouldn't comply with this request either, so eggs went uneaten, and she stayed hungry.  But twenty months is awfully young to have to stay hungry....)  I could go on.  But I won't.  Because she really is, by and large, a delightful child, and we have so much fun, SO much fun with her.  I imagine it is the two sides of the same coin. 

Ella and Charlotte adore one another, notwithstanding normal childhood spats, and play together beautifully.  We're so blessed to have both of them.  But they sure are different.  :)

Our Fall has been surprisingly busy.  It's hard to quite put my finger on one thing that is making it so, but really, it is just a combination of factors.  But it's been several weeks since we haven't had something scheduled on any given day.  On every given day, actually.  I am hoping the next few weeks will slow down and we will be able to spend more time reading and playing together.  I just love my girls.

We bought a new car (a minivan) and the old Mazda is still going, sort of.  But it is in desperate need of new tires and so forth, so we're going to retire it until February, when we get transferred.  We were using both for a while because Paul has been working these crazy hours.  But we've just decided that we will begin trading off and utilizing the train again.  In any case, it will be nice to have a good excuse to stay home on the days Paul has the car.  The weather is still good and I have everything I need in walking distance.  (The library, the grocery store, and friends.)

Happy Thankgiving Weekend.  I hope none of you got pepper sprayed :)

Remember when I used to be better at blogging?

I do.

But at least I have a three year old who LOVES to take pictures, so when I consult my archive of photos I have hundreds (literally) to choose from.  Just from last week.

I would say that a solid twenty percent of the pictures that Ella takes are self-portraits.  Another twenty percent are of strangers and/or random cars.  Another ten percent are too blurry to identify.  Forty-nine percent of Ella's pictures consist in what I like to call "still-lifes".  You know, the carpet, houseplants, door handles; and often when she finds a shot she really loves, there will be five or seven in a row.  Hence the reason I have a total of eight photos of an orange reusable shopping bag.  The remaining one percent are actually kind of good.

And so photo credit for the above photo goes to Ella. There were also some lovely shots of my legs, but I opted not to use those.  Maybe next time.

We got a new cousin!

And by "we", I mean Ella and Charlotte have a new cousin.  His name is Soren.  And he is beautiful.  And we live only twenty minutes away from him, so everyone is going to be best friends.  Finally!  A cousin!  Let's keep them coming!  (You know who you are.  I have spoken to you personally, and I still think you should be  having babies to keep my children company.)

Don't you want a picture like this of your future child and Ella?  She is really sweet with babies.  It *almost* makes me want to have another one.

Speaking of cute babies.  Try this one on for size.

Although, baby isn't quite the right word to describe this little girl.  But we still call her "the baby" (or just, "baby") more often than not.  But she's getting to be less and less of one every day.  At night, though...  That is a different story.  Still not my star sleeper.  I will not go in to details here, because that inevitably results in advice, which I am really not interested in getting.  But for posterity's sake.  And because I like to whine.  And to make other people feel better about their stellar parenting.  Just know that I long for a full night's rest. And I have only had three full nights of sleep in the last nineteen months.   :)  I know.  Now you think I'm the crazy parent.  Ah, it was inevitable.